Halloween Hunt
by RebbieChan
Summary: Happy Halloween! STN-J style A&R Friendship fic


**Happy Halloween!**

I hope you enjoy this little story I put together for the occasion. I know i used waaaaay to many passive verds but...uh...deadlines suck?

Anyway, hope you like it! Please review!

* * *

**Halloween Hunt**

Frost covered the near-bare trees as Robin puttered by on her vespa. The Sky had an orange tinge to it, the days were getting shorter now making her morning drive to work darker than usual.

Pulling into the parking garage warmed her face like the sudden heat of her craft. Still, she rubbed her gloved hands together before heading towards the elevator. form the corner of her eye she spotted Dojima's bright red car parked next to Sakaki's motorcycle. It was rare to see her come in so early and Robin had to check the time on her phone to make sure that she herself wasn't late.

"Morning Robin!" She glanced up to see Karasuma just pulling in to her usual spot.

"Good morning." Robin waited for the more experienced hunter to catch up, coffee in hand, before continuing on.

"Big day today." Karasuma commented idly while taking a sip from her mug. "I'm really going to need this."

Robin quirked her head to the side. "What's today?" She turned as she stepped inside the elevator and saw that Karasuma was staring at her in disbelief."

"You don't know what today is?"

Her face grew hot. Was she supposed to know? "Sorry."

Karasuma followed her in. "Think about it, what's the date?"

She paused for a moment. Was there something important scheduled for today and it slipped her mind? Was there some Japanese holiday today that she didn't know about? "It's Friday the thirty-first."

"_October _thirty-first." Karasuma took another sip as the elevator shot up.

"I really don't kno-" Robin started as the doors opened.

"HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" Sakaki, Michael and Dojima shouted, spinning noise makers and popping confetti as if it were the new year.

"Oh." Robin heard that it was a much bigger deal in many places than from were she came from.

"where are your costumes?" Dojima demanded, it was then when robin noticed that the three of them were all in ...odd clothing.

"You know that I never dress up, you'd just bring me something different anyway." Karasuma muttered as Dojima grabbed both her and Robin's hands.

"True." The blond nodded as she lead them over to a huge cardboard box in the middle of the room.

"What are you, by the way?" Karasuma asked, noting, along with everyone else in the room (especially the guys), the skimpy outfit their slacker co-worker wore. Adding to the pink outfit was a plastice battle axe hanging from a belt around her waist and two ponytails that bobbed up and down at her every movement.

"I'm a battle waitress from the future!" Dojima then placed two fingers above and below her right eye. "Yurika Beam!"

The two stared blankly at her. She stared in earnest back.

"They don't get it Dojima." Sakaki broke the silence. He looked like...a mummy, maybe? Except black, with no head coverings, and with fangs and a mask attached to the side of his head. He also held a strange looking sword. "I'm Halloweentown Sora from Kingdom Hearts."

Robin's look of complete non understanding stayed in place when Michael jumped in and exclaimed, "And I'm Captain Kirk!" He didn't look like a captain...didn't they usually wear white and salior caps? He was wearing yellow!

Dojima dug through her box. "To match Sakaki..." Karasuma peeked over her shoulder, knowing that she would have to wear this outfit. "The closest thing I have is Final Fantasy X-2 Yuna."

"Can't i just be a kappa or a block monster?" The brunette sighed as she slung the outfit over her arm on her way to the bathroom.

"I've got just the thing for you Robin!" Dojima Exclaimed, ignoring Karasuma's comment. She dug out and placed a wide brimmed, long long pointed, black hat on Robin's head.

Robin tipped the hat up out of his eyes. "A witches hat?"

"And Broomstick!" She exclaimed, handing her the wooden broom. "You look so cute!"

At that moment Amon stepped out of Zeizen's office casting the two of them an unapproving glare. He waved for the group to follow him into the conference room.

He wasn't wearing a costume, so why should she? Robin stared at the broom in her hand before leaving it on her desk.

* * *

"For those who may not know," Amon glanced at Robin. "Halloween is a very important time for witch hunters. There is a high amount of activity for witches because on a day like today, they can get away with it. Our job is to make sure they don't."

Amon sat down and Michael stood up. "This year we are going to draw straws for who goes to which events to go to." He took out three straws. "We split the city up into three districts, every straw has one of them" He held out the ends of the three straws to Robin. "You can draw first."

Robin pulled out the middle straw. "District three." A amp of district three - the farthest away from the office - appeared on her and Amon's screens as well as a list of all the events taking place in that area and their times.

Dojima picked next, getting district one, the smallest and closest to Raven's Flat. She complained about it but it was probably for the better being that she didn't have a partner.

That left Sakaki and Karasuma with district two.

After copying down all the places they were supposed to stop at they ate frosted ghost and block monster shaped cookies and drank an orange colored punch. They talked about places they went last year and how fun they were. "But what about the hunt?" Robin asked.

"We usually get one maybe two hunts out of all of us." Sakaki explained.

"Yeah we pretty much get paid for going to parties." Dojima added. "It's the best day of the year!"

"Tomorrow then would be the worst." Karasuma laughed. "Getting pretty much no sleep and then having another full day of work is not my definition of a good time."

"Robin." She heard Amon from the other side of the room. There was a lunch party on the other side of town starting soon. Robin waved goodbye to the others before hurrying to catch the elevator.

The second the doors shut an uncomfortable silence filled the compartment. Robin glanced at him. "Dojima didn't find a costume for you?"

"I don't wear a costume."

"But won't you stand out?"

"We usually stand out" That was true, it was probably the reason that only a hat made her own costume, the black dress she normally wore fitting for the occasion.

"Dojima said that we don't get many hunts." Robin said, not wanting the awkward silence to start again.

"I always get one or two." With that he swiftly exited the elevator, heading towards his car. She wondered if that while everyone else partied, Amon actually worked.

She could tell that he was in a worse mood than usual…almost angry. Did he not like this holiday? Or did he resent the fact that he did all the work on these nights?

But she was with him, so at least now he wouldn't be doing all the work.

It wasn't long before they reached their destination. The lunch party seemed to be a work function and Robin wondered if it was okay for them to be there. She quickened her pace to keep close to Amon.

Amon didn't fail to notice. The buzzing noise of many people all talking at once filled his ears as they entered the company building's warehouse. He slowly made his way along the wall, picking up drinks for the both of them along the way, until the two were in the back corner. Robin shifted her feet and inched closer to him, fiddling with the rim of her plastic cup.

Like him, he thought, she didn't like being with all these people.

Amon glanced at his phone, this things usually only last about an hour to an hour and a half. They had shown up about twenty minutes late so hopefully they wouldn't be there for long.

He could already see some of the younger women, either fresh out of college or interns, glancing over at him before turning to their friends and co-workers to point him out. Amon glanced down at Robin who was staring into her cup. She had no idea as to what she was supposed to be doing. He had never known what to do his first few times out either.

* * *

_A fourteen-year-old Amon ran down a dark street. He wore plastic chains on his wrists and ankles, a hooded white cloak, and dark make up on his face. The STN-J hadn't had a kid on the team for a long time and his co-workers dressed him up as a ghoul for the occasion. Instead of going to all the adult places he had been sent out on his own to 'investigate' kid orientated events._

_He didn't mind, Amon had always loved Halloween._

_Amon stepped inside the middle school that was hosting a big party for all the students. He looked around, observing the kids for any unusual trends._

_But...everything was unusual about them. They were completely foreign to him. He had never attended middle school himself, he had spent his days training and working and these kids had a much different life. They were of a different world._

_Nevertheless, he was going to try. Spotting a group of guys about his age, he made his way over. "Have you guys seen anything strange?" Was that what he was supposed to say? Witch activity was strange right?_

_"Yeah, you." The guys laughed and he could hear them say 'who is this kid?' and 'what a dork as he rolled his eyes and turned away._

_After trying to get any information he could for what seemed like forever and getting the same sort of responses every time, he left._

_"Kids are stupid." He muttered, kicking at a loose stone as he left the building. It had been such a long time since he interacted with anyone his age. He had been looking forward to this chance for weeks._

_Amon sat down on the steps and rested his chin on his knuckles. "What am I supposed to do?" No one took his questions seriously, so how could he find any witches? "This is dumb."_

_

* * *

_

These girls were so dumb! They kept coming over to Amon, who was clearly uninterested, and practically throwing themselves on him! Then they would notice Robin, size her up,smirk, and ask, "Is this your sister?"

Robin really didn't know why that bothered her so much. Except that they didn't look a thing alike. Or maybe it was that smirk,as if those girls had something over her.

Amon didn't correct them, so it fit for a good cover. Still, Robin was surprised that no one could tell that he didn't work there.

"What department are you?" They would giggle as they asked.

"Maintenance" He would answer in his usual bored tone.

Then, the girls would mention how "strong he looked" and how he was probably "good with his hands". They made it sound as is it meant more than one thing.

A half hour of this passed and he told the girls that he had to get back to work.

As they drew close to Amon's car Robin asked the question that had been in the back of her mind the whole time at the lunch. "What did any of that have to do with hunting witches?"

"If something odd happens, it won't be long until everyone present knows." Alright, well that was true. "Sometimes a witch will ask if we want to 'see some magic'. Sometimes a show or effect seems odd and we need to check it out. It's better to have the odd come to us then to go searching for something that might not be there." They got into the car and he checked which place they should go next. "We have to wait."

"Okay," Robin nodded. "Where are we going next?"

Amon closed his eyes. "I meant we have over an hour before anything else starts up."

"Oh."

After driving around aimlesssly for about fifteen minutes, they parked in a downtown area and began wandering around. Robin didn't get the point of doing this, it was cold, they were outside, and nothing was happening. Were they now looking for activity when he had just said not to?

Amon stopped in a small convenience store and walked up to the bottles of soda. "Which do you like?"

Robin blinked. "Cherry Bepsei." She hesitated as she answered.

He grabbed a two liter of said drink and another of Mtn. Lou. "You have a habit of falling asleep on hunts" He answered the question that was written all over her face.

Her ears burned with embarrassment. Yes, that was also true but he didn't need to say it out loud.

"How long will we be out tonight?" She asked. Usually the latest they'd ever be out was until midnight, judging by Amon's wanting to keep her awake it seemed that they would be out much later.

"All night."

All night? With Amon? Robin hoped that either the parties would get better or they'd find a witch or something! Otherwise this was going to be a very long night.

* * *

The multitude of set-ups and decorating for later parties at local universities took up their next few hours. It was nearing five now and the sun was finally beginning to set. The real action would begin soon.

They stopped at a costume cafe for supper. A lot of weirdos show up at those places. Glancing at his phone partially to avoid eye contact with an overly bubbly waitress dressed as a 'sexy kitten' and partially to check where they would go next. There were a lot of haunted houses, only a few parties, and...Amon spotted with dread another costume cafe.

"What would you like?" The cat-tress asked. "May I suggest the fish?"

_Oh God._ Amon thought in disgust of the terrible joke.

From across the table Robin giggled. He was surprised to find that she thought it was funny, but then again she was a child after all.

The waitress barreled off a few more bad puns before taking their orders.

Robin nodded silently as Amon planned out the rest of their night. they would stop at a party at the local rec center, then make their way through the first half of the haunted houses, stop at a second costume cafe, another party, finish off the haunted houses and then end with the last of the parties.

She had never been in a haunted house before. She had gotten the gist that they were supposed to be sacry. It made her nervous; the last thing she wanted was to look like a scaredy-cat in front of Amon, especially now that he finally seemed to accept her as his partner.

The next party went the same way as the first, gaggles of girls would surround Amon and refer to Robin as his sister. This time a few guys came up too, saying that 'it was a shame' that he had to drag his sister along and that they would be 'willing to take her off his hands'.

Amon only glared at them. "She's not my sister." They stepped off at that.

Robin didn't see why he only corrected the guys.

* * *

"Robin." Amon called, turning around. She was still by the car. At the sound of his voice she hurried over to catch up with him. They were getting in line for the 'Terror Trail'. Robin all of a sudden got a shaky nervousness about her. Was she scared?

"Amon?" He glanced down. "What are these like?"

"People in masks jump out at you, flashing lights, that sort of thing." She hadn't ever been in a haunted house?

The line inched forward until they were right at it's entrance, dark curtains flapping in the wind over the dark gaping mouth. They plunged in and the sound of shouts, screams, laughter, and odd clanking filled their ears.

It was hard to see much of anything with the fog machine going and the strobe lights flashing. The path they had to follow was narrow, they had to walk shoulder to shoulder.

Amon absolutely loved haunted houses but he didn't know how to act with Robin there, in past years he always went by himself. Robin, on the other hand, hand no clue as what to expect. He was curious to find out what he reaction would be.

And by God her reaction was priceless.

Her eyes bugged out wide and her mouth formed from a thin line of faint interest to almost a smile of pure terror. She practically jumped into him, while still staring straight at the masked offender who had popped out from behind what appeared to be part of the curtain wall but in actuality was a turn in the path, and latched onto Amon's arm. She even let out a tiny unintelligible shout.

Amon cracked up. To see their usually quiet, composed, mature little Robin completely freak out like that? It was great.

The whole way through, Robin screamed and clinged to him like a lifeboat while Amon laughed.

They came out the other end breathless. "What was so funny?" Robin managed to ask.

He couldn't help but smile. "You."

Robin's face turned bright red and she glared at him. "That was not funny."

"You don't have to go through the others if you can't handle it."

"It wasn't that scary." But as she said it, Amon glanced down at his arm that she still held in a death grip. Robin abruptidly let go and turned her heada away from him.

She thought she could handle it huh? Amon decided to the best indoor trail in their district, the best overall was outside but he was saving it for after. Even he, on that trail, found it pretty scary. But if he took her to that one first the other wouldn't seem as bad.

At first she tried to prove to him that she was not scared but it didn't take long before she was screaming her head off and digging her nails into Amon's arm.

With every sharp movement or wail, the both of them became more excited until Amon and Robin both were screaming and laughing with each other.

It was fun. Amon hadn't had that much fun in...in a long time.

He wore the biggest smile on his face and when Robin saw it she just had to smile with him.

* * *

"A maze?" Robin asked as the made their way to the entrence of the Orichi temple. The temple owned a good part of the forest here and for Halloween it was turned into a big haunted maze. This was the best trail in all of Japan (acording to Amon, at least). Rumor had it that the temple's spirits came down from the heavens to partake in the festivities. "How is a maze scary?"

"The same way all the other places we've been to." She was not convinced, he could tell by the nonchalant carrying of the authentic, yet electric for safety, latern.

They started off into the woods. By now it was ten and the sky was black, the fog adding to the errie effect.

A howl could beheard in the distance.

Maybe he should have skipped this place, for Robin's sake. Amon remembered that there have been people who had gotten so scarred that the passed out before.

There was a rustling in the trees.

Amon ran through all the monsters he knew in his head. Which would be theirs?

"This isn't bad at all." Robin said, confidence in her voice.

All of a sudden a flock of birds flew from a nearby tree. The sound of pounding feet thudded all around them.

Another howl, this time close by and getting louder.

_The Wolfman._

The point of this maze was to freak you out so much by having a 'monster' chase after you. Being in a state of panic, finding your way out would be much harder.

Robin's eyes darted to her side. A pair of eyes stared back for the briefest second. "Amon?"

"Yeah?" He answered only because Robin's eyes were rooted to that spot in the bushes and she couldn't see his recognition.

"They don't have animals in the forest, do they?"

"It's blocked off, animals can't get in."

The pounding feet grew quieter.

Roin glanced around.

They hit a fork in the path, made by cheap wooden walls, and took a left.

It was a dead end.

Amon felt a presence behind him. Robin turned around with him.

This guy's costume was amzing! The dark and fog worked well for him, it honestly looked the the Wolfman was standing right before them. But only for a second.

Robin screamed and jumpd behind Amon while the wolf crouched lowand kicked of his run with a push off from the ground. He curved around Amon, causing Robin to jump behind him again, and disappeared into the trees.

She hid behind his chest, staring wide-eyed at the spot the wolfman disapeared. Amon felt bad, she was shaking. He grabbed hold of her hand and started off in the other direction.

"Come on!"

They started running through the maze, spotting their monster here and there, but finally came out at the end of the maze.

Robin was still shaken. He squeezed her hand and said. "Let's go get something to eat." She cast him a greatful smile.

* * *

"I've never celebrated Halloween before." Robin confessed as they warmed themselves in the cafe with tea and cake. "At the monestary we stayed indoors and had a special prayer service, I've actually only heard of it a few times before tonight."

That was...really not as suprising as he initially thought. "Really?"

"It's been a lot of fun!" She took a bite of her orange frosted chocolate cake.

"Halloween used to be my favorite."

"It isn't anymore?"

"I haven't had as mush fun as I used to these past years at the STN-J. It's been more about the hunt then the holiday." Amon explained. "But tonight has been good."

Robin just remembered something. "Did your old partner like it?"

"Kate always went with Dojima, which I prefered."

Robin yawned and Amon checked the time. It was about eleven thirty.

"Time to break out the caffine."

* * *

The rest of the night was filled parties, punch, and yes, more screaming. After three in the morning when all the places on their list had been checked off, Amon usually went around town in search of a witch. Tonight, He spent his extra five hours in his car alseep with Robin's head resting on his shoulder, asleep in the seat beside him.

Those small five hours later Amon and Robin came back to Raven's Flat, before Dojima and after Karasuma and Sakaki, and entered the elevator.

They ascended in a comforting silence.


End file.
